If you're like most companies, you focus on driving traffic
to your Web site via advertising. If too few visitors buy something
once they're there, you blame your marketing program. You may
say the media costs were too high or the clicks were junk traffic.
True, some marketing campaigns will perform better than others. But
in many cases, you can improve your visitor-to-buyer conversion
rate just by modifying your Web site, not your marketing.

In his e-book, How to Develop a Landing
Page That Closes the Sale, Dr. Ralph F. Wilson urges
business owners to evaluate their landing pages, also known as
entry pages. The landing page is the page shoppers see once they
click an online ad, a search engine listing or a banner ad, for
example. The goal of a landing page is to persuade visitors to
complete a transaction.

Is your home page a landing page? You shouldn't consider it
one. Your ad entices people to click for more information, while
your landing page closes the sale. It shouldn't invite people
to surf your Web site. It's a stand-alone page that hides your
main Web site navigation. It offers few or no options other than
taking the intended action. And the copy should expand upon the
message revealed in the advertisement visitors clicked on. Keep in
mind that different ads require different landing pages; each
landing page should be customized for a particular audience.

There's more than explanatory copy at work on entry pages.
According to Wilson, an effective landing page uses the
psychological factors of enhancing desire, creating a rationale,
making the offer compelling, and building trust to sell a product
or service.

"Never underestimate the power of emotional selling,"
says Wilson. "A no-nonsense description of an offer may work
for nationally branded companies. Most companies don't have
that luxury. Today's shoppers are pressed for time and money.
Address their emotional needs, and your sales will at least
double."

To write copy that appeals to your potential customers on an
emotional level, pretend to interview them. Start with the
following questions: What problems are you dealing with now? How do
you want these resolved, and what are your concerns? What would
make you buy this solution today? Strip out the industry jargon
from your reply for simple, results-oriented copy. This is the
making of a good entry page.

What makes a good landing page better? Unfortunately, there is
no magic formula. But it's an easy question to answer: Test a
variety of pages. You can change your page design, reprioritize
your benefits, or use case studies.

The Web audience is diverse, and individuals will respond to
different marketing messages and presentation styles. It's up
to you to discover which landing pages will get your visitors to
become your customers.